Aaron S. Horton, 34, of House Springs, a persistent offender, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following a felony drug trafficking charge and a probation violation, according to court papers.
In March 2012, Horton was found at Hwy. 21 and Hayden Road in the Hillsboro area with a methamphetamine lab in his vehicle, the probable-cause statement said.
When he was arrested, Horton told officers that the meth lab was his and that he had used items found in the vehicle to make meth because he was unemployed and needed money. In addition, he said he had bought pseudoephedrine pills earlier that day to make the meth, and a search of the computer system that tracks the purchase of pseudoephedrine verified that he, indeed, had bought decongestant pills that day, the report said.
Horton pleaded guilty to felony first-degree drug trafficking inside a motor vehicle, and in November 2012, he was sentenced to 15 years, but he was released in December 2013 after completing a treatment program, and the sentence was suspended and he got five years’ probation.
However, Horton violated the probation and on June 7, Jefferson County Div. 4 Circuit Judge Mark T. Stoll executed the 15-year sentence.
Also that day, Stoll executed a seven-year terms Horton previously had been sentenced to for felony second-degree burglary stemming from a March 2011 incident in Jefferson County. Those terms are to be served concurrently, or at the same time, court documents show.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Trisha C. Stefanski handled the cases.
In addition, Horton previously was convicted of felony theft of anhydrous ammonia and resisting arrest tied to a June 2004 incident in Jefferson County, as well as of felony possession of a drug with the intent to use it to make meth connected to a June 2011 incident in St. Louis County, court documents indicate.
He currently is in the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.